


Torch

by Bruinhilda



Category: Blake's 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-06-09 05:18:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6891757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bruinhilda/pseuds/Bruinhilda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This one was written to answer the question, "why did Cally suddenly cut her hair between "Orac" and "Redemption?"</p></blockquote>





	Torch

          In the wake of Orac's dire prediction for the Liberator, everyone was depressed. Nobody wanted to believe it, of course, but it was a little hard to ignore from a computer whose main selling point had been infallibility. And Blake was obviously taking it _very_ seriously; he'd been questioning both Orac and Zen for hours, looking for some way to avert their destruction.  
          Vila wasn't sure which was worse: certain doom, or the way it was making everyone gloomy. His preferred way of dealing with certain doom (when running away wasn't an option) was to drink until he forgot about it. But everyone insisted on reminding him with their moping.  
          Sighing, he turned his attention to the small pile of his latest acquisitions. Every time Vila went planetside, he pocketed a number of "souvenirs." It was a hobby Blake frowned upon, but the way Vila saw it, if Blake didn't want him to steal things, he shouldn't be forcing Vila to go down to dangerous planets in the first place.  
          Not much of a haul, really. Three wallets from the Federation base they raided last month. Not much in the way of credit chips or useful items. One wallet contained eighteen pictures of eighteen different cats. Vila shook his head. He'd known that officer was a bit cracked, but wow.  
          A few seashells from Aristo. Avon's watch (ninth time this week.) A deck of playing cards "borrowed" from Gan. Blake's stylus (fifth time today; he made it too easy.) A weird figurine that that barbarian who had tried to kill him on Cephalon had been wearing around his neck. And...he smiled and picked up the slender metal wand. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was beautiful. Green enameled leaves twined around a red shaft. A small crystal lens was set into one end. This was also from Cephalon; there had been a number of them in Meegat's little bunker. Most of them had been broken and obviously long forgotten. But this one...he raised it up and considered how it sparkled in the light. Yes, quite beautiful. Probably useless, even if you knew what it was, but pretty. It might charm a girl or two, given the right opportunity.  
          And speaking of...Cally walked past, frowning at the pad in her hand. Distracting herself with busywork, no doubt. Vila swung his feet off the table and hopped up. He still hadn't quite given up on courting the Auronar, though he had to admit it was probably a lost cause. But just getting her to smile would be worth the effort.  
          "Cally! Hey!"  
          She stopped. "Yes, Vila?" She looked more curious than annoyed. Good.  
          He held up the wand. "I never did get around to showing you this. I picked it up on Cephalon. What do you suppose it is?"  
          She took it and examined it curiously. "I don't know. It's very pretty. Is it a device of some kind?"  
          "Might be. Looks like a fancy stylus or pointer or the like."  
          "Have you shown it to Avon?"  
          "Not with the mood he's been in." Cally handed it back to Vila, who twirled it across his fingers. "Can't be that hard to figure out, right?" There was a click, and it shifted in his hand. "Oh, hey! There's a switch or something here!"  
          "Vila, be careful, you don't know..."  
          Vila pressed the switch.  


          Blake jumped clear out of his chair when he heard the scream. He ran out of the flight deck and was almost bowled over by Vila, who was moving as fast as he could, howling a non-stop litanty of "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!" Blake turned and opened his mouth to yell at Vila, when Cally knocked him straight over. Her hair appeared to be smoldering, and there was murder in her eyes. She was yelling something in the Auronar language. Blake guessed it wasn't anything polite.  
          Avon wandered up the corridor, looking faintly amused. He held out a hand to the prone Blake.  
          Blake took it and got back up. "We should go after them."  
          Avon shrugged. "I'm not inclined to interfere."  
          "I don't need my crew killing each other!"  
          "It's Cally. I doubt she'll actually kill him. She'll probably stop at a little light maiming. And I'm guessing he deserves it."  
          Blake sighed and buried his face in his hands.  


          In the end, Vila managed to talk himself out of severe injury. Promises of extra turns on cooking and watch duties were combined with extreme grovelling and a pledge to not play around with unknown artifacts in future. Jenna helped soothe things down by trimming Cally's suddenly-shortened hair and insisting it looked good on her.  
          Vila misplaced the wand in the confusion, and didn't dare mention it again. Avon didn't bother to tell him that he'd taken it apart, figured out how it worked, and then put it in a little box of souvenirs he kept in his room.  
          And it was a record two weeks before Vila dared to steal something again.  


**Author's Note:**

> This one was written to answer the question, "why did Cally suddenly cut her hair between "Orac" and "Redemption?"


End file.
